ABSTRACT

This chapter examines political situation for countryside management was already on the slide, with the New Labour government of Gordon Brown asserting that local government would endure the most of economic austerity. Evans's paper considers implications of the Big Society on services for children and young people, but the concepts are pertinent to countryside management services. Addressing these major social problems through increased support and access to countryside resources offering green exercise activities produces significant public health benefits and considerable economic advantage. The level of local government, citizenship was closely associated with wider programmes of decentralisation and reforms to improve accountability, responsiveness, and effectiveness. The government has cut budgets but introduced more legislation in the shape of the Localism Act 2011. Thus the voluntary sector is encouraged to compete for public service contracts, because they are imagined to be cheaper, more efficient, more innovative, and a more responsive service provider.